Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy, yesterday ambushed a convoy of IDF vehicles outside Kafr Ghajar and killed two IDF servicemen and injured seven others. The slain servicemen have been identified as 25-years old Major Yohai Klangel from Har Gilo, and 20-years old Staff Sergeant Dor Nini from Moshav Shtulim. Several roadside bombs and a total of five anti-tank rockets were used in the ambush.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths, and Israel has pledged retribution for the attack and warned Hezbollah that it risked a full-blown war. Hezbollah’s mouthpiece, Al-Manar TV, alleged that nine IDF military vehicles were destroyed in the ambush and also credited the attack to the Quneitra Martyrs Brigade, a Hezbollah unit.
Israel reserves the right to defend itself against aggression; and Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, has reiterated this fact to the UN Security Council. Yesterday, the Security Council called for an emergency meeting scheduled for 2100 GMT to discuss the recent upsurge of violence in the region. The US has condemned the act of violence perpetrated by Hezbollah, and also called for calm. The Lebanese government has reaffirmed its commitment to U.N. resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel War.
Analysis by Strategic Intelligence Service (SIS).
SIS has analyzed the circumstances leading to this successful Hezbollah ambush and concluded that serious security lapses on the part of the IDF gave Hezbollah the opportunity to strike stealthily.
Three facts stand out from this attack. First of all, Hezbollah officers crossed the border unnoticed and then proceeded to craftily plant roadside explosives on the road that was to be used by the IDF. The Israeli military intelligence was totally unaware of this activity. Secondly, Hezbollah fighters were able to move anti-tank rocket launchers to the border fence unnoticed. Thirdly (and most seriously), Hezbollah fighters were able to effortlessly strike and blow up two command vehicles in the military convoy. These three facts indicate that the security of the convoy was not considered seriously before deployment. Case in point, the command vehicle was left to travel unprotected and within sight of enemy fighters.
Such security lapses calls for the IDF to close all security gaps and restore its deterrent capacity by retaliating with reasonable force while also conducting offensive preemptive missions in enemy territory. It is also advisable for Israeli intelligence agencies, Mossad and AMAN, to work concertedly with each other and with the Israeli Special Forces to identify, locate and disable enemy intelligence cells located in Syria because it is from these cells that Hezbollah procured the intelligence that was used to attack the IDF convoy.
